The intricate beehive takes a lot of careful teasing of the hair and hairspray, photo courtesy of SportSuburban

Now – I love a good backcomb (or tease if I’m being gentle with my hair) so you can only imagine my excitement when I saw Jean Paul Gaultier’s vision for A/W’11. Grannies with chic up-do’s, it was a big grey beehive bonanza!

The beehive was the favoured do of the late great Amy Winehouse, but has obviously been around a whole lot longer. While we fondly remember Winehouse popularising the style in the noughties, the look dates back to the swinging Sixties.

It’s pretty obvious why the bouffant style is named thus – it looks like a great big beehive. It was also known as the B-52 for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the fighter plane. A crisp shiny shell on the outside and perfectly coiled fluffy hair on the inside, the hive was a style with serious staying power.

The 60’s New York girl group, The Ronettes, were rarely seen not sporting matching big hair. Their dulcit tones and sweet as honey harmonies elevated them swiftly to the top but it’s undeniable that their style also helped them to stand out. Veronica “Ronnie” Spector, the lead singer of the band said in a Village Voice interview: “We had high hair anyway, We used a lot of Aqua Net (hair spray).”

The equally iconic Audrey Hepburn also sported a particularly polished beehive in 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Some of the best beehive tips I’ve heard are as follows:

-Section the hair from the crown back, spritz the roots with hairspray then begin to brush the hair down to the root.

-Use a hair doughnut, keep it clean ladies, no jam and sugar involved in this do. Make sure it is the same colour as your own tresses and place it at the crown of your head underneath the backcombed hair. Fix it in place with grips, and style around the doughnut. It makes a good base for your beehive.

-For a less dramatic ‘bouff’ section off a small slice of hair at your crown, tie it together with a thin hair band (top knot style) and backcomb that. Then you can backcomb and style the rest of your hive over this using it as a base.

Here’s a Youtube tutorial for a Beyonce inspired bouffant look, I think it is a pretty good beehive video. Get practicing now to be ahead of the fashion pack for the S/S’11 shows…

For more vintage inspiration take a look at the not so ordinary blog by Velvet Cave Vintage.